Burnett pulled the hammer back on his pistol. "Now!"
"You know that is not how this works, Burnett."
"That's Detective Burnett."
Not after this, it wasn't.
"Why are you doing this, Detective Burnett?" I asked. "You have to know you're not going to get away with it."
Pure hatred laced Burnett's voice when he replied, "Because parasites like you need to be eradicated before they infect the entire police bureau."
"Is this a dick-measuring thing?"
"A dick—No!"
"Then what is it?" I truly didn't understand it. "What have we done that makes you hate us so much?"
"You mean besides breaking every law there is?"
"What laws have we broken?" We might walk the line from time to time, but we never crossed it.
"You're associating with known criminals, selling drugs, selling kids, taking bribes, creating your own personal little army. Shall I go on?"
I slowly panned to look at Sal. "Is he serious?"
Sal nodded. "He is."
Huh.
I guess it didn't really matter why he was doing this. He still had to be stopped.
When I saw movement behind Burnett, I took a step to the right so his eyes followed me. I didn't want him to see who was coming up behind him.
"What about Jean?" I asked to keep him talking instead of pulling the trigger. "How does he figure in this?"
Where was Jean?
I glanced around, wincing when I spotted the man on the floor by Sal's desk. He was face down and a splotch of blood was pooling underneath him. I guess that explained what had happened when I heard the gunshot.
"He's crazy," Burnett said, "but useful."
"You usually work with crazy people?" I asked as I glanced back at the detective. "Or is this a special case?"
"Oh, he's definitely a special case." Burnett cackled like a crazy man. "I knew as soon as I saw him looking at your little doctor friend that night at the hospital, and the hate in his eyes when he looked at you, that he and I could help each other."
I narrowed my eyes. "Did you erase him from the system?" It was the only way I could think of that Jean's arrest wouldn't be on his record.
Burnett shrugged. "I needed him working with me, not behind bars, and it was all too easy to convince him to work with me. He wants you gone as much as I do, and he was more than willing to help me get rid of all of you."
"Because we're breaking the law?"
Burnett snorted. "Because you're keeping him from the man he loves."
I growled. "Dr. Jones doesn't want anything to do with him."
"That's not what Jean says. According to him, you are the only thing standing between him and his one true love. If it wasn't for your interference, he and Dr. Jones would be living happily ever after."
"I think he's been drinking the same loco juice as you."
